Charlie Chester
October 14, 2003, 10:27 AM
Mr Hopper's article seems to perpetuate the idea that the roots of Halloween lie in the Celtic festival of Samhain. This is one of those "facts" which everybody knows but which noone can back up.
The oldest available sources (early medieval) only mention feasting on Samhain - no Druids, divination, dressing up in disguises or spirits of the dead are mentioned. It wasn't until the 19th century that a few dodgy books on folklore began to claim that all those things went on at Samhain. They may just have been following the fashion of the time which assumed that rural folk practices were survivals of older/primitive cultures.
The clincher for me is that the Irish church were still celebrating All Saints Day in the spring when the rest of Europe had already moved it to the autumn - so the choice of date could hardly have been a Catholic ruse to coopt the Irish shindig.
Having said that, kudos to Mr Hopper for recognising the medieval origins of trick or treating.
regards
Charlie Chester
The oldest available sources (early medieval) only mention feasting on Samhain - no Druids, divination, dressing up in disguises or spirits of the dead are mentioned. It wasn't until the 19th century that a few dodgy books on folklore began to claim that all those things went on at Samhain. They may just have been following the fashion of the time which assumed that rural folk practices were survivals of older/primitive cultures.
The clincher for me is that the Irish church were still celebrating All Saints Day in the spring when the rest of Europe had already moved it to the autumn - so the choice of date could hardly have been a Catholic ruse to coopt the Irish shindig.
Having said that, kudos to Mr Hopper for recognising the medieval origins of trick or treating.
regards
Charlie Chester